MARGARET MCLEAN: Drug dealers' testimony a hit at Bulger trial

Imagine taking a walk with Whitey Bulger through a dark area of the South Boston projects and going “down the cellar steps” into an enclosed concrete area that looks “like a coffin.” What are the chances of making it out alive?

By Margaret McLean

Wicked Local

By Margaret McLean

Posted Jul. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 6, 2013 at 6:02 AM

By Margaret McLean

Posted Jul. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 6, 2013 at 6:02 AM

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Imagine taking a walk with Whitey Bulger through a dark area of the South Boston projects and going “down the cellar steps” into an enclosed concrete area that looks “like a coffin.”

The only people around are Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and wise guy Kevin Weeks. You also know that Whitey hasn’t been happy with you lately.

What are the chances of making it out alive?

The wide-eyed jurors leaned forward as they listened to government witness William Shea describe a terrifying night with Whitey. The best witnesses are good storytellers, and the government scored big with drug dealers Billy Shea and Joe Tower. These gangsters certainly would’ve entertained us around those scattered illegal South Shore bonfires this holiday weekend.

Shea was the perfect witness. He started by apologizing that his voice sounded like “Kermit the Frog.”

Laughter erupted in the courtroom several times, especially when Shea referred to Whitey as “the young-looking man over there.”

Jurors seemed fascinated with the economics behind the drug trade. They listened to Shea reminisce about their infamous “dog-and-pony show” in which he and other thugs rounded up drug dealers in Southie and forced them to work for Whitey’s enterprise.

He talked about the lousy “gangster grass” and the switch to the better-quality “Colombian Gold” marijuana. Jurors learned about terms like “the chop,” which is gangster language for one’s weekly take of the profits.

The dealers purchased at least 2 kilos of cocaine every week from Colombians, diluted the product, and resold it to midlevel drug dealers for huge profits.

Tower testified about transporting drugs from Florida through the photographer for the New England Patriots cheerleaders. They’d fill the empty film containers with cocaine.

Why bother with the drug dealers when the defense conceded during opening statements that Whitey was involved in the drug trade? The government’s legal strategy is to grab the jurors’ attention through good storytellers and hit them with important facts central to finding Whitey guilty on the 32-count racketeering indictment.

For example, Shea wanted to get out of the drug business and retire in Florida. Whitey worried that the massive money-making operation would fall apart without him. Shea testified that Whitey threatened him: “You remember what happened to Bucky Barrett?” According to Shea, this meant, “Do what I say, or I’ll whack you.”

Shea was referring to one of the named murder victims in the case. Jurors will remember it during deliberations and they’ll reflect on the horror-movie image of Shea with Whitey in the basement of the projects. This paints Whitey as that “hands-on killer” and fearsome leader of a vast criminal enterprise – exactly what the government has set out to prove.

The government introduced Whitey’s recorded jailhouse conversations through Ken Brady, a Plymouth County House of Correction employee. The legal strategy was for jurors to hear Whitey talk about the 1975 murder of Eddie Connors and make the machine-gun sound. He didn’t admit to the killing on the recording, but he did joke about it.

Page 2 of 2 - The government timed it perfectly with the testimony of Connors’ daughter, who cried on the stand when she described learning about her dad’s murder when she was 7 years old. Another family member doubled over and sobbed in the gallery. Jurors noticed. Jurors notice everything.

Defense attorney J.W. Carney seized the opportunity to cross-examine Brady about excessive strip searches performed on Whitey. Brady admitted they had Whitey in solitary confinement, under 24-hour surveillance with a camera in his cell, and still strip-searched the old man as often as five to eight times a day.

Carney spent little time cross-examining the drug dealers, yet he continued his attack on the government by getting Tower to admit that Bulger provided him with protection from law enforcement as well as other criminals. Tower bribed a Boston Police Department sergeant with envelopes of cash on a regular basis.

The defense did the most damage with former FBI agent John Morris on Monday. Under intense pressure from Hank Brennan’s cross-examination, Morris looked out at the family of murder victim Michael Donahue and publicly apologized for leaking top-secret information that got Donahue killed. The Donahue family did not accept it and is still waiting for the government’s apology.

The Whitey Bulger trial has opened a window to the bygone era of sweeping racketeering indictments with machine-gun toting gangsters and corrupt government agents. In fact, this may be one of the last great mob trials. We don’t hear about gangland murders committed with machine guns anymore.

I saw a South Shore friend at the courthouse again this week.

“I’m obsessed with this trial!” she said.

Last week, people who got in line at 6:15 a.m. were too late. Luckily, they could observe this top-rate courtroom drama on television in the overflow room.

The coming week’s feature attraction will be Whitey’s sidekick and criminal associate Kevin Weeks. He will talk about the unfortunate ones who never made it out of the basement alive.

Margaret McLean is a former prosecutor, a law professor at Boston College, and resident of Norwell. She is a legal analyst and host of the nationally syndicated show “It’s a Crime Radio.” She is the author of two legal thrillers, “Under Oath” and “Under Fire.” She is co-authoring a book about the trial with Jon Leiberman titled “The Gavel Strikes: U.S. versus James ‘Whitey’ Bulger.”